Calls to provide TRICARE for all service members of the National Guard and Reserves at no cost to the service member.

Healthcare and health readiness for the National Guard and Reserves remains a critical issue impacting readiness and deployability. The post-9/11 introduction of TRICARE Reserve Select (TRS) was intended to address the issue with the increase of activations; the Department of Defense needed the Reserve Component to be ready to deploy; medical readiness was an individual readiness issue, which remains true today.
Soldiers and Airmen are still expected to maintain the same level of health readiness as active component counterparts but are expected to do so on private insurance, personal expense, or by paying for TRS. TRS has some limitations that create barriers to the intent of unifying AC/RC medical readiness. The most challenging is the re-enrollment gap requirements that exist if a Guardsman comes off Title 10 and then reverts to Title 32. TRS, not being the same program of record as TRICARE, also creates diversity in healthcare record keeping. Medical records and documentation at civilian providers, TDY locations, or units of record do not retain consistency, making it almost impossible to monitor a service member’s deployable status. All of the disparities in TRS and health readiness standards could be addressed by providing a TRICARE Prime Remote version of health care at no cost to the entire RC. This benefit would directly impact readiness.

The Enlisted Association of the National Guard of the United States urges Congress to enact legislation that would support a program to provide “TRICARE For All” at no cost to enhance the readiness of the Reserve Components.